Supermarket Rules

• Work the Edges - For the most part, the healthiest food in the supermarket can be found around the edges of the store - meats, seafood, dairy, and produce. The inner aisles of the store are dominated by boxes, bags, and cans.
• Look High and Low - Many supermarkets charge "slotting fees" to food companies who want prime food placement on shelves - eye level (or kids' eye level in the case of candy and sugary cereals). Thus healthy food (from smaller companies) can normally be found more on the top and bottom shelves.

• Go for Fewer Ingredients - When you must choose from two or more competing products, one of the easiest ways to tell which is better for you is to choose the one with fewer ingredients.  For example, real peanut butter has only two ingredients - peanuts and salt.
• Watch the Totem Pole - Think of the ingredient list as a totem pole.  The ingredients at the top are the most abundant in the product.  So if you are trying to avoid corn syrup, you are better off with a product that lists it 10th in the ingredient list as opposed to a product which has it listed second.

Hope this helps everyone! I hope to be posting weekly from this point forward.